July 20, 2015

VIDEO: Top 10 Cairo Derby Goals

It’s a huge derby coming up, with Zamalek needing just one point to clinch their first league title in 11 years from their arch rivals Al Ahly. To celebrate the derby, here at KingFut.com we have chosen the top ten derby goals in recent history.

The Cairo Derby is surely the biggest game in Africa and one of the fiercest derbies in the world, with the two clubs winning a combined 13 CAF Champions League titles and 48 out of the 55 Egyptian League titles between them.

Even though the Cairo Derby has swayed in the favour of the Red Devils who have mustered 91 wins in all competitions compared to 52 wins by the Whites, the derby has always been a ferociously competitive affair between the two best clubs in the continent.

In accordance with such a monumental rivalry, the two giants have provided us with a number of quality goals over the past years; here are the top ten in no particular order.

Al Ahly

1) Khaled Bibo (2001)

“Bibo we Beshir .. Bibo wel Goal” is probably the most memorable bit of Egyptian commentary ever by the iconic Medhat Shalaby. Not only has it become well known for football fans, but it also became part of the Egyptian pop culture.

It’s the fourth goal of the 6-1 Ahly thrashing of Zamalek. The game is the most memorable derby in recent history due to it being the heaviest defeat by either of the Cairo giants especially after Zamalek were being tipped as heavy favourites for the game.

Khaled Bibo went one-on-one with Zamalek defender Beshir Al Tabei, he first feinted right then dropped his shoulder and took the veteran defender on beautifully on the outside to nudge the ball under Abdel-Monsef’s arm into goal. It was the striker’s second goal of the night as he ran rampant through Zamalek’s defense scoring four goals, earning him a super hattrick.

2) Mohamed Abou-Treika (2013)

It’s just after sunset, sun still blazing in a hot summer day in coastal city El Gouna. It’s the 52nd minute and Abdallah El Said sends a beautiful Scholes-esque long ball into the box.

Walid Soliman cuts inside with Abdel-Shafy marking him closely, then jumps gracefully and flicks the ball mid-air beautifully with his heel across the box for Treika to score a great half volley into Abdel-Wahed’s net. Simply stunning.

It was the third goal in a 4-2 great CAF Champions League group stages game. The Red Devils went on to win the competition later.

3) Sherif Abdel-Fadil (2010)

Sherif Abdel-Fadil rarely scored for Al Ahly, but when he did he made sure it was a thing of beauty. The 40-yard free kick was the equalizer after Ex-Ahly winger Hussein Yasser scored in the first minute.

The defender stepped up and unleashed a blistering ball of fury into the top right corner of the net. It ticked all boxes of a great long range free kick, it had amazing speed, power and the perfect amount of spin.

The long range effort left Abdel-Wahed stunned and helped the Red Devils to a 3-1 win after being down in the opening minutes. Al Ahly then advanced to the quarter finals of the Egyptian Cup, but eventually lost against Haras El Hodoud in the final.

4)Mohamed Abou-Treika (2008)

Being the top scorer in the Derby with 13 goals, it’s only normal for Treika to feature more than once on the list. At first glance this goal may seem a simple one-on-one with the goalkeeper and an easy sitter, but that’s where you need to take a second look.

The play started from a Hadary free kick that missed the heads of Zamalek’s midfield players and landed to Hossam Ashour who with one simple pass hit Zamalek’s high line defense, sending the ball to the left of goal with Treika one-on-one with AbdelMonsef and chasing the ball. The goalkeeper ran off his line to put pressure on Treika.

Being right footed with the ball heading left of his body, just slamming the ball and hoping for the best would be the normal thing to do under the pressure; but Treika opted for something more dazzling.

He dropped his shoulder and feinted left while adjusting his body elegantly so the ball would be on his favoured right foot. With Abdel-Monsef dropping too soon at Treika’s left, the playmaker put the ball marvelously into the net.

Just like a work of art that looks unassumingly admirable, everything falls into place effortlessly to create such a smooth and splendid goal.

5) Moataz Eino (2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2J6XyK_4OE

Moataz Eino, Tala’a El-Gaish player, used to be a Zamalek player that moved to Ahly in a controversial transfer to say the least. The midfielder is known for his long range shooting ability and what better way to showcase that than scoring against his former club in the Super Cup match in 2008.

Sayed Moawad had the ball on the left edge of the box, and without any pressure he sent in a cross that was headed outside the box by Zamalek defenders.

Just before the ball landed, Eino released a colossal volley from the edge of the box into the net as quickly as a bullet. That was the second goal that killed off Zamalek’s chances and won Al Ahly the Super Cup; and what worse way it is to get punished than by an ex-player like that.

Zamalek:

1) Abdel-Halim Ali (2003)

Abdel-Halim Ali, the legendary Zamalek top scorer with 134 goals, had been in the team for four years without scoring a single goal against Al Ahly. Al Ahly were above Zamalek in the league table and the Whites needed a win from that derby, and Abdel-Halim delivered.

The striker received the ball on the edge of the box amidst a cluster of Red shirts. He seemingly had nowhere to go in that pocket of space created by the great run of Hossam Hassan dragging defenders with him.

El-Hadary went off his line too early, and Abdel-Halim with a great eye for goal chipped an excruciatingly glamorous lob that landed beautifully in the net. It was a wonder of a goal as Abdel-Halim never hesitated or faltered under pressure, he glimpsed Hadary’s run and with the exact mixture of both finesse and power launched the ball into the net.

Zamalek went on to win the game 3-1 and eventually the league title. That goal proved pivotal for Zamalek’s charge on becoming champions of Egypt for the last time until this very day.

2) Mohamed Sabry (1999)

Just as Sherif Abdel-Fadil scored a 40-yard screamer for the Red Devils, Mohamed Sabry scored a wonderful free kick too for Zamalek 11 years before him.

Mohamed Sabry had amazing raw talent and a great touch on him. Unfortunately he didn’t fulfil his potential, but that didn’t stop him from creating moments of absolute brilliance like that astounding left footed strike that hit the far corner of Hadary’s net.

The 40-yard rocket left nothing to the imagination as it had pace and explosiveness that would leave any goalkeeper helpless.

3) Mohamed Helmy (1983)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCgibkuavSc

Long-range strikes, especially from open plays, are always a joy to watch and Mohamed Helmy executed a massive one in ’83. The midfielder picked up the ball from 35-yards out, looked up and let loose a devastating ball that almost destroyed the net’s top right corner.

Helmy had an explosive right foot and showed it off beautifully in that goal. It was the equalizer in the first round match of the Egyptian Premier league in a game that ended 1-1 with Mahmoud El-Khatib scoring for Al Ahly.

4) Mohamed Sabry (1994)

Mohamed Sabry surely had a laser-accurate left foot and here he is proving it again. This stunning goal started with Ayman Mansour cutting inside at the right edge of the box then passing it to Sabry. The mercurial midfielder wastes no time and whips it ravishingly one time with his left boot into the net.

The left footed trickster was part of General El-Gohary’s young fledlings that included Hazem Emam, Medhat Abdel-Hady, Moatamed Gamal, Osama Nabih and Moamen Soliman. Mohamed Sabry proved his worth and proved he’s up for it after scoring that wonder of a goal against a goalkeeping legend, Ahmed Shobeir.

It was the second goal in second round of 93/94 season; Zamalek won 2-0, avenging the 3-goal loss against Al Ahly in first round.

5) Tarek Yehia (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q76kR6vQ4Eg

Tarek Yehia, now manager, was an influential left winger to Zamalek back in the day. He scored 99 goals for Zamalek in all competitions and held almost every honour there is with Zamalek.

He scored this astounding goal against Al Ahly after he recieved the ball inside the box on the left, but the ball went a bit wide limiting the chances of executing anything but a cross.

Yehia then shot a breathtaking ball into the roof of the net, finishing off a play that seemed impossible to execute from that angle. It was the second round league game in the 85-86 season that ended 2-2.